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Super Bowl Snacks: Slider Burgers

We started blogging about a year ago (more on that later this week), and one of our first posts was a recipe for Super Bowl Sliders. Since then, we tweaked the recipe a bit and figured since we are doing a “Super Bowl Snacks” series, we may as well post an update. But here is all you need to know; sliders are fun, perfect for entertaining kids and adults and taste great. And if you use our version of “Shake Shack” sauce, your sliders, or burgers, will be even better.

This sauce is our version of the special sauce from New York City’s favorite burger joint, the Shake Shack. Serious Eats reversed-engineered the sauce a few years ago (see here) and we tweaked it ever-so-slightly to go with our sliders. The key to the sauce, which is in the “1,000-island family” of sauces, is chopping up and blending dill or sour pickles (we use cornichons sometimes) directly into the sauce. The extra acidity and bite of the pickles along with mayo, ketchup, mustard, garlic powder, salt and paprika takes this sauce over the top. We use smoked paprika to add a touch of smokey flavor that does come through. In any event, make the sauce, trust us…

Otherwise, making sliders is just like making burgers, just smaller and faster. We make our sliders about 2 ounces (or a touch less) and make sure they are about 1/4 of an inch thick. We cook them in a very hot skillet or cast-iron pan for 2 minutes on one side, flip, add some cheese (just a little) and cook another minute for medium rare / medium. We set the sliders on a cutting board to rest for 5 minutes, this keeps the juices in the burger.

As for the bread, we use buttered and grilled dinner rolls like King Hawaiian (yes we love those rolls) or Parker House rolls. Taking the time to brown and heat the rolls is a nice touch and adds some buttery flavor to the mix. Then we just put the sliders on the rolls and top with the sauce. Simple, easy, and oh so tasty. And the small size means everyone can enjoy the sliders either as a snack or full meal. Just be ready to make another batch.

Slider Burgers:

(Sauce adapted from Serious Eats)

What you get: Tasty, juicy sliders that can be served as snack, appetizer or main course.

What you need: No special equipment required. Good sharp pickles will help in the sauce.

How long? 30 minutes, max. Anytime dish.

Ingredients:

(Makes 8 sliders, you will have extra sauce)

Burgers:

16 oz. ground chuck, formed into 8, 2 oz. patties that are less than ¼ inch thick

4 slices of American or cheddar cheese, tear into 8 pieces

Salt and pepper

2 tablespoon bacon fat or vegetable oil

2 tablespoons butter

8 dinner rolls (King Hawaiian if you can get them)

Sauce:

1/2 cup mayonnaise

1 tablespoon ketchup

1 tablespoon yellow mustard

4 slices kosher dill pickle or cornichons, chopped

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon smoked paprika

Pinch cayenne pepper

Assemble:

Place all sauce ingredients into a food processor, blend until smooth (immersion blender will also work). Set aside.

Split rolls and put a small amount of butter on each roll. (Optional: grill each roll, butter-side down, while you make the sliders for extra crunch and flavor).

Heat a heavy skillet (cast iron is good here) over high heat. Make sure it is hot.

Place 4 burgers in the skillet. Add pinch of salt and pepper to each burger. Cook for 2 minutes. Flip burger and add cheese. Cook another 1 minute. Set aside, under foil, to rest. Repeat with second batch of burgers.

I love sliders–fun for the whole family. I’m looking forward to making this sauce–I’ve got a few yellow squash pickles that the kids won’t eat because they are yellow, but the dill flavor is all there.
Thanks!

It’s really funny, but I eat very little meat and almost no beef, but this is the kind of Super Bowl item I wouldn’t be able to pass up. They look so good to me! I love the idea of putting them on the King’s Hawaiian Bread rolls. Congratulations on the upcoming anniversary. You’ve completed a lot of work in one year!🙂

Beautiful! Your sauce looks awesome. One hint, after living in Hawaii, I learned to love those Kings rolls. I even make my own version called aloha rolls. However, when I use them for sliders, I cut a bit out of the middle of the roll, otherwise there is too much bread to meat ratio. Just a thought for you.